Hi Jacmac40 ~
Restating what my colleague said: please remember that Google Answers
Researchers are independent contractors, and not employees of Google.
We do not possess any inside information about Google's
closely-guarded search engine algorithms, and don't have a magic
answer.
We *do* offer expertise in locating information our customers seek and
bring our experience and knowledge to help answer your questions.
========================
How To Submit Your Site
========================
You said you submitted your site in June. By "submitted", I am
assuming that you used Google's Add URL tool, which is located here:
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
I will also assume that you submitted your site by hand and didn't use
any unauthorized software, such as WebPosition Gold to submit it.
Google expressly warns against using such software in its "Quality
Guidelines - Basic principles",
"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit
pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume
computing resources and violate our terms of service.
Google does not recommend the use of products such
as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or program-
matic queries to Google."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Google also recommends listing your site with the Open Directory
(DMOZ.org) and Yahoo!, which they recommend if you are having trouble
getting listed in the Google index.
"Google partners on the Web include Yahoo! and Netscape. If you are
having difficulty getting listed in the Google index, you may want to
consider submitting your site to either or both of these directories.
You can submit to Yahoo! by visiting
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/. You can submit your site to
Netscape's Open Directory Project (DMOZ) by visiting www.dmoz.org.
Once your site is included in either of these directories, Google will
often index your site within six to eight weeks." (See: "What else can
I do to get listed in Google?")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html
While your site is listed in DMOZ under:
"Regional: North America: United States:
Tennessee: Localities: C: Clinton: Business and Economy"
Perhaps a better or more appropriate listing would be
"Shopping: Home and Garden: Furniture: Bedroom: Mattresses"
- http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Home_and_Garden/Furniture/Bedroom/Mattresses/
or even
"Business: Consumer Goods and Services: Home and Garden:
Furniture: Home: Bedroom: Mattresses
- http://dmoz.org/Business/Consumer_Goods_and_Services/Home_and_Garden/Furniture/Home/Bedroom/Mattresses/
And a search of Yahoo! returns no listing for bestbed.com at all,
although there is one external link to your site, which I'll discuss
below.
A search on Yahoo! for www.bestbed.com returns no results and no links
to your site. A search for the entire URL http://www.bestbed.com
likewise returns no results and no links.
========================
PageRank -
The Importance of Links
========================
Bestbed.com has a PageRank of 0/10 for all of its pages. You can check
the PageRank yourself by downloading and installing the Google Toolbar
if your system uses Windows and you use Internet Explorer version 5 or
later.
Google's Toolbar is here:
- http://toolbar.google.com/
If you use Mozilla for your browser, they also offer a Google toolbar,
even though they are in no way related to Google. You can find
information about their version here:
- http://googlebar.mozdev.org/
Google explains the importance of PageRank from the webmaster's point
of view in its Ranking Information and states:
"Google's order of results is automatically
determined by more than 100 factors, including
our PageRank algorithm." (See: "How does Google
rank pages? 1. The basics")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html#A1
It further explains it from a technical viewpoint in "Our Search:
Google Technology" and explains the importance of PageRank (and thus
the importance of links to your site):
"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of
the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator
of an individual page's value. In essence, Google
interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by
page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the
sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also
analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by
pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily
and help to make other pages "important."
"Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank,
which Google remembers each time it conducts a search.
Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they
don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank
with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages
that are both important and relevant to your search.
Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears
on a page and examines all aspects of the page's content
(and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine
if it's a good match for your query."
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.html
===================
Links to Your Site
===================
A search on Google shows no listing for bestbed.com, www.bestbed.com,
or the full URL.
A search on Yahoo also returns no listing - but does return one link,
a site called "The Big Whois?", where evidently someone did a search
on the availability of the domain "bestbed.com" in April, 2002.
Obviously this isn't exactly the type of "important" link to your site
that helps your PageRank, which may ultimately help you get listed in
Google.
To check links to your site, you can use Google's "Who Links to You?"
- ://www.google.com/help/features.html#link
In "How Do I Get My Site Listed On Google?", Google explains
"Submission is not necessary and does not guarantee inclusion in our
index. Given the large number of sites submitting URLs, it's likely
your pages will be found in an automatic crawl before they make it
into our index through the URL submission form. We DO NOT add all
submitted URLs to our index, and cannot predict when or if they will
appear."
Google also states, "The best way to ensure Google finds your site is
for your page to be linked from lots of pages on other sites. Google's
robots jump from page to page on the Web via hyperlinks, so the more
sites that link to you, the more likely it is that we'll find you
quickly."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html
You will increase your chances of being listed in Google's index
considerably if you establish links FROM sites with a good PageRank
and relevant content.
There are many practical ways of establishing links which are
beneficial to you in your endeavor to get respectable position
placement on search engines. These methods may take time, but they
also help in establishing credibility and help with your page rank.
Approach like-minded or complementary businesses about linking to your
site (with a reciprocal link from your own). This works without
harming search engine positioning or page rank.
Articles on Link Popularity
===========================
A couple of excellent articles on how to establish the right kind of
links are available in Traffick's "Ten Steps to Building Links to Your
Site", Craig Fifield - 5/3/2002
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=77
and "The Right Way to Improve Link Popularity", By Paul J. Bruemmer -
4/14/2002 -
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=41
Notice both articles offer suggestions which can be easily adapted for
use on any website without resorting to link farms. They both point
out the differences and offer easy ways to get started to the kind of
linking search engines prefer.
A Word of Warning:
==================
Google specifically warns about engaging in linking schemes to enhance
your PageRank.
"Don't participate in link schemes designed to
increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In
particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad
neighborhoods" on the web as your own ranking
may be affected adversely by those links."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
======================
What Else Can You Do?
======================
Become familiar with what Google recommends and suggests in its
Webmaster Information located here:
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Structure of your page:
=======================
Google makes specific recommendations on design elements which will
help get your page listed in its Guidelines:
"* Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links.
Every page should be reachable from at least one
static text link.
* Offer a site map to your users with links that
point to the important parts of your site. If the
site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may
want to break the site map into separate pages.
* Create a useful, information-rich site and write
pages that clearly and accurately describe your
content.
* Think about the words users would type to find
your pages, and make sure that your site actually
includes those words within it.
* Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are
descriptive and accurate.
* Check for broken links and correct HTML."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
While technically your site follows some of these guidelines, there
are several design elements, both aesthetical and in terms of
usability, you can employ in your site's design which would certainly
render it more user-friendly.
For instance, you have several lines of internal links prior to any
substantive content ... this can often be confusing to your visitors.
Structurally, there are more effective ways to offset links and get
the content (what the site's about) in front of the visitor - before
the visitor clicks elsewhere, etc.
I am not addressing those issues here. Although they will no doubt
render your site easier for your visitor to understand and navigate,
your site as designed is not as great an obstacle as the lack of links
to your site is.
You mentioned a site review, and you have received one in this answer,
at least with respect to how to get your site listed in Google.
If you wish a review addressing such issues as design aesthetics,
usability, layout, metatags, proper HTML coding, ease of use for your
visitors, credibility and other considerations of effective design
(which often enhances the placement of your listing in search
engines), you might wish to post another question.
If you do so, you may wish to review Google Answers Price Guidelines
in order to allow for a comprehensive review.
- http://answers.google.com/answers/help.html#C
If you prefer a particular Google Answers Researcher to answer your
question, you can ask for that person in the subject line or within
the body of your question.
=================================
Patience Is The Name of The Game
=================================
Following the basic suggestions above and establishing some good
RELEVANT links to and from sites related to your own content will help
increase your PageRank, and thus your chances of being included in
Google's index.
Unfortunately, waiting for your site to show up is the hardest part of
search engine submission. While I have heard of cases of sites which
seem to get listed immediately, it has been my experience that most
take some time to show up - in some cases up to twelve weeks!
Lastly, there is no guarantee that any search engine will index your
site at all. Google says "We DO NOT add all submitted URLs to our
index, and cannot predict when or if they will appear."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A2
After following the suggestions above, "wait and see" seems to be what
you have to do.
Search Strategies
==================
The above answer was provided from personal experience answering
inquiries of a similar nature, references bookmarked during the course
of business and familiarity with Google's Webmaster Information and
PageRank information.
Regards,
Serenata |
